Zvonimir Sabati, Prefect of Varaždin County
Five Stars Croatia Issue 4 — April 01, 2009.

According to the first written record, Varaždin County is the oldest county and one of the first ones to be set up as territorial administrative unit in Croatian countries. It is first mentioned as far as 20 August 1181 in the first Charter of Croatian-Hungarian king Bela III. It appears also with the name of the Varaždin county prefect named Belec in 1131.

After entering into the personal union with Hungary in 1102, the counties became the monarchs’ institutions; he was setting up prefects who acted as his governors. In political sense, Varaždin County became the example of growing trend of independence in managing and controlling almost every activity on this territory, in relation to the central government.  The town of Varaždin, one of the oldest Croatian towns, has always been the administrative, cultural and educational centre of Varaždin County.

It was the first one to acquire the status of a free royal town. The golden era of Varaždin County started with liberating Slavonia and Sriem all the way to Zemun, i.e. the famous peace treaties between Austria and the Ottoman Empire in 1718.    In the recent history, the modern Varaždin County played a significant role in the Croatian War for Independence. After the taking over of the facilities, warehouses, the military technique and armament of the 32th Corpus of the Yugoslav National Army in 1991, the ration of forces turned to our favour.

One should certainly point out the lasting values of the cultural heritage of the Varaždin County. Traces of prehistoric man, foundations of roman forts on the Drava limits and roads connecting the eastern borders with the centre of the empire, ruinous remains of Romanticism in architecture, gothic church towers. According to the new Act on Local Self-government and Government from 1993, the ancient Varaždin County was renewed. Territorially, it is significantly smaller than the old Varaždin County since it doesn’t include the territory of Hrvatsko zagorje. Varaždin County spreads over 1228 square kilometres and is one of the smaller, but densely populated counties.

Varaždin County includes 6 towns and 22 municipalities. The County itself is highly developed, and constant investments into the development of education, agriculture and overall concern for equal development of the County, makes it a desirable and pleasant place to live in.